


Parties and Pizza

by waterbird13



Series: Tumblr Fics [322]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean tries but he can't offer much, Gen, John Winchester skeptical, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, author is not a fan of John Winchester, sam wants access to normal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 18:04:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8499844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterbird13/pseuds/waterbird13
Summary: Sam just wants to go to a party. Other kids may have to ask permission too, but their going isn't negotiated around training and hunting performances.





	

It’s been four schools in three months, hunts every single weekend, and research during the week. Whenever John’s around he insists on training, and whenever he’s not it feels like he’s right there anyways, breathing down Sam’s neck, demanding he research faster. _Lives are at stake, boy. Are you so selfish you’ll let them die?_

In short, he’s been worked to the bone, more than any fifteen year old has right to be, and being told he can’t go to Kelly MacFarlane’s birthday party on Saturday is the last straw.

He doesn’t even like Kelly MacFarlane. Or, to put it more precisely, he doesn’t really know her. But she had invited him–not even one of those _invite the whole class_  things, no, she had picked him–and it would be the first time he’d gotten to do something like that in almost six months.

John shoots him down flat. “There’s a hunt, and I need you boys,” he says. “Three people dead already, it’s all hands on deck. There’s no time for you to go gallivanting around, wasting time.”

“It’s not a waste of time,” Sam says. “It’s a party. Normal teenager thing. I’m a teenager.”

“You’re a hunter,” John says. “And your job is to save lives.”

Sam doesn’t listen anymore after that, knowing he’s not going to get his way. He could turn this into a blow-out fight, but then he’d still be stuck in the car as soon as school ends Friday, still be on the hunt, still be not going to the party. He knows how things work, by now.

John seems to think he’s won, so he leaves it there and goes out to the bar, with one last reminder that they will leave by three thirty on Friday, not a minute later.

Sam waits until he’s sure his truck is gone, then goes outside to sit on the rickety picnic table under the motel’s single, sad tree. He doesn’t want to be in that room for a few minutes, wants to be outside of the salt lines, wants to not see the weapons Dean’s been cleaning, wants to be away from their life packed away in threadbare bags, ready to move at a moment’s notice.

Dean gives him some time, then comes and finds him. He sits next to Sam, bumping his hip, reminding Sam of his presence without talking.

Sam sighs heavily and gives in to the silent interrogation. “What’s the point of keeping us alive if we never get the chance to actually live?” he asks, wistful.

“C’mon, Sammy. That party really that important to you?” Dean asks.

“It’s not about the party!” Sam says. “It’s about…doing things. Normal things. Parties are part of being a teenager. School, parties, friends, sports, whatever. We’re not people to him, Dean. We’re robots.”

Dean flounders for a moment, and Sam feels momentarily bad for tearing Dean between them, between the brother he loves and his idol. But he refuses to feel bad for how he feels, and Dean wanted to hear.

“He just needs us now. Lots of hunts. There’ll be other things, Sammy,” Dean assures him. “Other parties, if that’s really what you want. As long as you keep up with training and hunting and research, sure he’ll let you go to a party or two.”

Sam sighs. He’s sure John would too, because Dean can go out without too much issue. If Sam just became his brother, then he could go out. But it would always be something he asked for permission for, something he had to earn. Dean doesn’t get it.

But he is trying. Dean wants him to be happy so damn bad and doesn’t know how to help, doesn’t know how to fix things and make all the pieces of his life line up. Sam sighs. “I know,” he says, conciliatory.

Dean sighs too, seeming to know he still didn’t really succeed in making Sam feel better. “Wanna watch a movie?” he asks. “I’ll get us a pizza.”

Sam almost says he has homework to do, but he decides against it. He can do his homework in the morning, if he has to. “Sure,” he says. “Pepperoni?”

Dean grins at him, and Sam figures that his life overall is probably never going to be completely good, but as long as he can keep things together between him and Dean, then they’ll be able to keep going just fine.


End file.
